How Rimmer saves Red Dwarf

[Aractus]

I have a theory about how Rimmer saves the ship from the corrosive microorganism after the events of Series VIII, and why from Back -to-Earth Series X on he was a hologram (again).

Firstly there are two possibilities as to why Rimmer is a hologram in Series X. Either 1. He is a hologram the whole time in Series VIII but without a visible H on his forehead (like Ace), or he dies sometime during the series and is replaced as a hologram. This could be at any point really since the senile version of Holly can activate him at any time, but the point I most prefer is in S08E04 - Cassandra. I like to believe this possibility because this is not only possible, but completely foreshadowed:

• At the beginning of the episode Lister tells Rimmer that he's signed him up to be a Canary. Rimmer is horrified and tells Lister that Canaries are used for suicide missions.
  
• Cassandra tells the Dwarfers that all the Canaries aboard the Silverbird die as a result of the bulkhead giving way, and only Lister Kryten the Cat and Kochanski survive.
  
• At the end of the episode it appears that Lister and Kochanski leave Rimmer on the Silverbird.
  

The other Canaries that go onto the Silverbird do die (there's about 15 including the Dwarfers that go on the mission), at least it seems since it's a different lot of Canaries that the Dwarfers find in "Pete". The only other Canary that survives is Kill Crazy, but he never actually sets foot on the Silverbird in the first place - he knocks himself out right before entering the ship.

There are other clues as well, for example in the following episode Rimmer rats out a fellow inmate perhaps because he believes a hologram can't feel pain.

Yes there are a few inconsistencies and contradictions with this explanation, however no more than is normal for the series. The contradiction I hate the most is in S05E04 Quarantine when the Cat calls Kryten "Frankenstein". Despite the fact that he was raised believing that Frankenstein was the Holy Mother, and Frankenstein was Lister's Cat. It's a huge inconsistency about what the Cat believes and what the name "Frankenstein" would mean to him.

Now some people have postulated an explanation that Rimmer finds the nanobots. I don't believe they're necessary for a sufficient explanation. In Series X the Cat says Rimmer's heroics were a "total fluke". We also know this version of Rimmer has memories of both the pre-series XIII hologram and the "human" series XIII Rimmer.

So perhaps after Series XIII Holly reboots Rimmer, but this time from the original holodisc - not the resurrected one. This will give him both sets of memories, and he remembers what a specific leaver does. In S7E1 Tikka to Ride the extended version shows Rimmer knows how to disconnect Starbug in two from a leaver. We also know the Series VIII Red Drwaf was rebuilt considerably longer than the original. Assuming a modular design it could have a midsection that can be disconnected in the same way we see Rimmer trick Lister into splitting Starbug.

The reason why I believe this explanation is cleaver is because only Rimmer knows about it. Only a handful of Red Dwarf's crew would even know it exists on the Starbugs, and would have no idea that it should exist on Red Dwarf itself. The original Red Dwarf didn't have a disposable midsection that could be jettisoned: thus the Captain and crew would not have known about it, just as he is shown at the beginning of Series VIII being baffled over the new paradigm of Red Dwarf.

This fits all the facts:

• Red Dwarf returning to normal size.
  
• The vending machine telling him he's the highest raking crew left on board: Kochanski and the Cat aren't registered Crew and he ranks above Lister and Kryten.
  
• It's a fluke because senile Holly rebooted him.
  
• Rimmer's a Hologram: he can't know about the leaver without the knowledge of the previous hologram Rimmer.
  

What do you think?